Southwestern Pot Pie is an intriguing name, don’t you think? Pot pie brings in thoughts of comfort food and memories from childhood and then your brain goes to southwestern and you say – what’s in that ? Chicken, black beans, vegetables, cheese, southwest spices and …. did I mention a corn bread crust ??? Yeah, sounds amazing already, doesn’t it ?
The very first time I made this recipe – was long ago – before even the hubster was in the picture… I had my friend Dana over for Sunday dinner and a movie – we would catch up on the happenings of the weekend (in Chicago) and who we met and where we went and we’d have dinner on Sunday and we’d watch a Netflix movie. This was back when I had a 3 DVD subscription to Netflix and he also had a 3 video subscription and we’d have 6 movies to pick from. Ha – back then… How times have changed…
The most amazing part of the story is that Dana and I *almost* ATE THE WHOLE PAN the first time I made it — it was SO good. Note that the original recipe said it served 8. Uhm, yeah – not in my house ! Fast forward some 20 years – and this recipe is one of the hubster’s favorites. He would eat this EVERY SINGLE WEEK if I’d make it for him.
So – where did the recipe come from?
I originally found the base recipe on Food.com posted by peppermintkitty – she’d gotten it from a state newspaper…and I’ve been tweaking it ever since. As the hubster says, I never make “exactly” the same meal twice – since I add a little of this and a little of that – using the base recipe as a start. However, (you knew that was coming) last time I made it I actually wrote it down (perhaps so I could include it on the blog!) and amazingly – it was super excellent – so that’s a bonus!
I had made a double batch last time – since a friend was having a tough go – and sent one to her house. She said that she loved it, wanted the recipe and had shared the dinner with her sister and her sister’s husband and they too wanted the recipe. So there you go. Unsolicited Yumminess feedback.
How flexible is this recipe?
Once you make this once or twice and you will get a feel for how you can / want to change it up (if at all.) You can change the recipe depending on the vegetables you have on hand or skip the fresh vegetables all together and make this a simple pantry staple type of meal.
You see, the original recipe used chicken, an egg, and some milk and cheese and the rest of the ingredients from the pantry. You could revert to this if you don’t have any fresh veg – but of course I like to spice up the flavor and #VegItUp – giving the meal more nutrition and bulking up the meal for few added calories and I think, overall, just making it better. But you do you, boo, based on what’s in your fridge / pantry.
Let’s talk a minute about the spices before you get going:
- I use 3 heaping tsp of Chipotle from the can that I’ve zipped up and have in my fridge. If you don’t know what I’m referring to – please see this post. Or you can do what I used to do… and retrieve a can of chipotles in adobo and chop up a few chipotles, add some of the adobo and get yourself 3 tsp full. As a last option / substitute – you could use a Chipotle dried spice – but strongly urge you to get a can of chipotle’s in Adobo and mince up some yourself. That is the zing and the smoke that makes this dish.
- Speaking of smoke – I add additional Spice House Mesquite smoke flavoring. This isn’t mandatory – but I think it is one of the secret ingredients to much of my southwestern flavors. I’d encourage you to find some smoke flavoring you like and tinker with it in southwestern recipes. I just went to get you a link to this spice – and the Spice House isn’t selling this particular spice anymore ! Booooo. What they do have is hickory smoke salt – so you could use this – removing an equal amount of the added salt – and this should be a good substitute. You could also use liquid smoke as found in your grocery store probably near the spices or maybe the BBQ sauces.
- Lastly – I have used Spice House Mexican Green Chili spice – which the Spice House also no longer sells. <insert frowny face> as a substitute you could use a can of Green Chile’s or perhaps add another fresh green chile (Hatch or Anaheim) or two to your to your fresh veg mix. The fresh chile would probably be the best bet here! The canned chile is the most versatile – having it in your pantry…
- Chili Powder & Cumin — almost goes without saying you’ll need some of these two key southwestern ingredients.
Ok – Ready ?
Southwestern Pot Pie
Ingredients
Protein – Or you could skip and make it vegetarian?
- 1 lb Chicken Breast – Raw, Cooked or use Rotisserie – cut into bite sized pieces (Skinless)
Pantry Items
- 15 oz Black Beans – Canned / Drained
- 15 oz Corn – Canned /Drained, Fresh or Frozen
- 6 oz Tomato Paste – Canned + 6 oz Water
- 10 oz Rotel Tomatoes – Can sub drained can of diced tomatoes
- 4 oz Green Chile Peppers – or 1-2 fresh Green Chiles diced (Hatch or Anaheim) or 3/4 Tsp green chile spice
Spices
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin – heaping Tsp
- ½ tsp Garlic – or 3 fresh cloves minced
- 3 tsp Chipotle in Adobo – Canned is best (minced) – or dried
- ½ tsp Mesquite Smoke – or ½ tsp liquid smoke
Fresh Vegetables
- ½ Onion – Diced
- 2-4 Celery Stalks – Diced
- 1 Jalepeno – Diced – Exclude Seeds & Membrane unless you want it really hot
- 1 Green Pepper – Diced (or Red or Yellow)
- 1 Poblano – Optional / Diced
Pre – Cornbread Topping
- 2 C Cheese – Shredded – your choice – cheddar / monterey jack etc
Cornbread Mix
- 1 box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix – or could make your own (?!)
- ⅓ C Milk – 2%, Whole or Skim is fine
- 1 Egg
Garnish
- ⅓ bunch Cilantro – Optional
- 2 Green Onions – Chopped / Sliced Thin
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375℉.
- Get all your ingredients out and ready.
- Wash and chop / prepare all your vegetables and garnish.
- Saute fresh vegetables in a large skillet with a bit of oil for about 8-10 minutes until vegetables are no longer crisp. If you are starting with raw chicken – you can add it with the vegetables and cook them simultaneously. (Be sure to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.) Add some S&P to the veg / raw chicken.
- While vegetables are cooking – prepare cornbread package as indicated – and set to the side.
- Once vegetables (and potentially chicken) are cooked – add the pantry items and spices to your skillet. If using pre-cooked chicken add it here also. Warm up everything in the skillet. (Don't forget the water with the tomato paste)
- Shred your cheese if it is not already shredded. Add 1/2 the cheese to the skillet mixture and stir – take off heat.
- Get out at least a 3 Qt baking dish and pour your skillet ingredients into the baking dish.
- Top with remaining cheese.
- Use a large spoon to dollop the corn bread on the chicken mixture. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to spread the cornbread on top covering all of the chicken mixture. This can be a somewhat finicky process – but do your best – the pot pie will turn out amazing – trust me!
- Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until cornbread is golden brown.
- Garnish and serve.
Notes
- You can save about 80 calories a serving by cutting the cheese down to 1 C from 2 C
- The calories were calculated based on 6 servings. These are large servings.
- You could substitute tomato sauce for the tomato paste + water
- You could substitute some fresh tomatoes for the canned if you have some you need to use up.
I remember the first time I had this. My friend Bridget made and it was delicious. I ate 2/3 of the casserole dish all by myself. Yummm